New Year and stuff.

Yeah, I was going to do one of those year-in-review meme things, and I even started it, but then I realized how essentially boring my 2008 was and ditched it. Lucky you. :) Seriously, not much of note happened last year. It was one of those placeholder years, you know? In 2007 we had a baby and bought a house all in the space of 3 weeks or so. Tough for 2008 to top that, so it didn't even try. Perhaps my one resolution and accomplishment in 2008 was to make at least a teensy bit of money with photography, which I did. So I feel good about that. In 2009 I resolve to make enough money photographically to pay for the shiny new camera I've been sporting for the past couple months. I can do it! I also always resolve to be more creative. I'd like to say I did that last year--I took more photos and feel like I grew quite a bit as a photographer. I have some new gear on the way to hopefully help me grow even more, and make me feel better about going semi-pro. More on that later. I'm also attempting to do a Project 365 this year--the idea there is to take at least one photo per day, and select a photo each day to represent the day. So then at the end of the year you end up with 365 photos that tell the story of the year. Some folks do self-portraits every day, some do different themes. So far I'm selecting a photo that captures a strong memory of the day, or something that made the day unique. I may throw in one self-portrait a week too, since I think it would be kinda cool to see how I change over the weeks. If I change. Hair and beard, mostly. :)

So Wednesday night (New Year's Eve) we did nothing special. I was supposed to get off work at 3pm, but there was a ridiculous fiasco going on all day that made me stay at work until after 5pm, even though the work I was doing had nothing whatsoever to do with said fiasco. And then it all turned out to be much ado about nothing, and I'm pretty sure the higher-ups knew that would be the case, so I'm still a bit peeved about that. Anyway, so when I got home I was a bit beat and not in the best mood, and we never stay up late for New Year's Eve these days anyway, so 2009 came in while I was happily asleep.

I've been off of work since then, and we've had a pretty busy weekend. Thursday we mostly stayed home, but also did some shopping, which is always fun. Our favorite thrift store has 50%-off sales on most major holidays, so we always try to go on those days to snag a bunch of used books and whatever else catches our eye. So we did that. On the way home we stopped at our favorite playground and the girls had fun playing for a while. Hermione always makes a new friend at playgrounds, and loves to show things off for people, whether it's something she can do or something she found or something she brought along. She's not shy at all, which is surprising since Heather and I are definitely both on the introverted side when it comes to approaching strangers.

Friday we went to the Ikea store, where Hermione played in Smaland while we browsed. That was only our second time going there, and we liked it much more since the first time the place was insanely busy. The only bad thing is that they'll only keep a kid in Smaland for an hour, and that's not nearly enough to make it all the way through the store! After that we went to Downtown Disney since it had been a while, and had a nice walk there. It was pretty crowded, so the LEGO store was less-than-enjoyable, but after having fun in the big toy store the girls had an absolute blast playing in the big mickey-shaped fountain. Until Hallie got all soaked, anyway, which we found a lot more amusing than she did. But she got over it pretty quickly!

Saturday we went up to Volusia County for a visit to Blue Spring State Park. Since the springs are 72F water temperature all year, when the river gets cold the manatees congregate in the warmer water there. Yesterday they said there were 122 manatees counted! We didn't see anywhere near that many, but we did see a bunch, and some other wildlife too--a gator, a bunch of turtles, a belted kingfisher, some hawks, etc. That was a nice visit, but it was a bit too hot! Once we got home, we gave in to our inner interior designers, who always want to move the furniture around. So we dismantled the crib that was next to our bed and turned our bedroom into an actual bedroom again, and then we rearranged the living room. We like the results, so we'll probably stick with it for a few weeks.

This morning we did some grocery shopping, and then went out for lunch and stopped at Home Depot. I worked a bit on the play structure in the back--there was a gap that Heather always worries Hallie's going to fall through. I keep telling her no problem, the ground is soft there, but she made me get some wood and put rails up anyway. :) Now the girls are taking a nap, finally, and I'm here while Heather sews upstairs. Lately she's been making matching sets of girls' and doll dresses, and they always seem to sell, so that's nice. She's hoping to do at least two a week, which would be a nice addition to our income.

Speaking of income, I dunno if I mentioned that I got my raise info. Not bad at all. Plus, since I hit my 5-year anniversary this year, I start getting my 3rd week of vacation this year. So I get paid more to work less. Whoo-hoo!

Okay, Hallie's not taking a nap after all, so I'd better see if I can help entertain her. Hope everyone's 2009 is off to a good start!